Kanger SUBOX Mini Q & A

The official release date for the Kangertech SUBOX Mini Starter Kit is Wednesday, June 10, 2015. I received both a white edition and black edition of the SUBOX Kit on Saturday, May 23 and posted a quick “Vape Mail” article and video here on Seven Report. I followed that up with a longer “First Look” piece and companion video on Monday, May 25. And finally a full, in-depth review on Monday, June 1.

I’ve only been publishing Seven Report since August 22, 2014, so the site and companion You Tube channel are still experiencing a lot of “firsts,” but reaction to the articles and video dealing with the Kanger SUBOX Mini have received unprecedented (for Seven Report) attention, views, comments and questions. This is a product that people are very interested in.

So I thought it would be appropriate to spend a few minutes responding to some of the questions and comments that have come in about the SUBOX Mini. All of these comments and questions have come in through Seven Report, the You Tube channel, Face Book, Twitter, Reddit or via email. They deal with a number of different areas and issues, but a couple of different questions kept coming up.

The New OCC Vertical Coils

Quite a few people, including Mr Drocha 86, ZenMaster and BullFrog wanted to know if the new OCC and RBA Mini Plus Deck will fit the older Subtank Minis? Yes, they’ll not only fit the Subtank Mini but all of the Subtank line, with the exception of the RBA Mini Plus Deck. The Subtank Nano never accepted an RBA, it’s too small, and on the original version of the Subtank you had to swap out the upper hardware to accommodate the RBA. Since I don’t have that version, I can’t say if the RBA Mini Plus will fit it.

Omar Guseynov, among others, wanted to know when the new vertical coils will be released as a stand alone item. My best guess, after conferring with a local vape shop, is that they should ship the same date as the SUBOX Mini Starter Kit, June 10.

Lucas Rice asked if the new coils are vertical or horizontal. They are horizontal, and they have larger ejuice ports on them than the old horizontal coils.

In the “First Look” piece I stated that the two OCC coils included in the SUBOX Mini were 0.5 ohm and 1.5 ohm. The original Subtanks were packaged with a 0.5 ohm and a 1.2 ohm OCC. NHolloway2007 asks, “The lowest it (the KBOX Mini) goes is 0.5 ohm?” No, the KBOX Mini will actually fire coils rated at 0.3 ohm, but the lowest coil it comes with is 0.5 ohm.

George Pirpiris says, “I’ve been wanting a tank with an RBA, and I like the new 1.5 ohm OCC that Kanger includes. I’m still not the biggest fan of sub ohming. I wonder why Kanger didn’t give the KBOX Mini temperature control.” That’s a good point. It looks like the SUBOX Mini is getting plenty of attention without temp control, but that’s an area I’m interested in as well. I expect to be receiving a temp control mod from a new supplier in the next week or two, so be watching for that review.

In the in-depth review of the SUBOX Mini I stated that you need to be sure to prime those OCC coils when they’re new and never dry fire them or you risk burning up that cotton. That prompted Manbelang73 to ask, “How do you prime the coil?” It’s pretty simple, you place a few drops of ejuice directly into the coil and once you’ve reassembled the tank allow it sit upright for a few minutes so that cotton gets full saturated. Chief had a follow up question to that, wanting to know if it was necessary to do this every time you refilled the tank, or just when you put in a new coil. To be safe you should do it with every new coil. As long as you haven’t allowed your tank to get totally dry you shouldn’t need to do it when you refill. I do, however do it when I’m changing flavors of ejuice. That cotton tends to hold onto the taste of the previous ejuice and I’ve found that putting a couple of drops of the new ejuice directly into the coil helps flush it more quickly.

Battery & Charging

A number of people were curious about the battery for the KBOX Mini, including Rasidi Ramli and Otherside65, asking if the KBOX Mini has an internal battery, comes with an external battery or if you need to purchase one separately. The KBOX Mini takes an 18650 external battery and Kangertech does not include it with the SUBOX Mini Starter Kit, so that’s going to be an additional purchase.

Anthony Deraci was among those who wanted to know if he also needed to buy a battery charger or if he could charge the 18650 while it was in the device. No need for a separate charger. Not only can you charge the battery while it’s in the unit, but you can continue vaping while it charges, provided you have a nearby USB power source or purchase a 1A wall adapter. Kanger includes a micro USB cable, but no adapter for a wall outlet. Of course, if you’re going to be away from a power source for any length of time you might consider getting two batteries and an external charger so you always have a fully charged battery handy.

Hyjinx187 says, “Hey Jerry, did I see the micro USB port on the side? I can’t tell you how much I wish I could charge my Eleafs vertically. No more dry hits from juice settling! Awesome!” Yes, the micro USB port is on the side of the KBOX Mini. But to be fair, it’s also on the side of the Eleaf iStick 50 Watt. And shouldn’t the plural of Eleaf be Eleaves?

Anthony Hood wanted some battery recommendations. I use an Efest IMR 18650 20 amp. It’s not that I feel all that strongly about the Efest battery one way or another, it was simply what my local vape shop had in stock at the time.

Chris Casey responded to that by commenting, “Great review! Careful with those Efest batteries though, the 20 amp description references the pulse rating. Kanger has revealed that continuous rating is 10 amp, but battery tests have indicated it was actually somewhere around 7 amp.” Thanks Chris, and I am keeping a close eye on the battery.

510 Connector

Without a doubt the question I was asked most often was, “Is the 510 connector spring loaded or fixed?” Dmitry Talanoff, ELobo, GT, Volodya Aghasyan, and Dantera were among those who asked that question, as did the guys down at my local vape shop when I took my SUBOX in so they could get a look at it. It’s a fixed 510 connection.

I said that was one of the few cons in my review of the SUBOX Mini. And James Graham wondered why. “You list the fixed 510 connector as a con. What did you use that didn’t work or didn’t fit flush? Not picking on you, everyone seems to be knee jerking about the fixed 510. It’s only a con if it doesn’t work. My only real con is no power lock. I would rather have a power lock than screen flipping.” We actually had a fairly long discussion on the subject via Face Book. And I agree, it’s only a con if it doesn’t work. So I tried another tank on the KBOX Mini, the new Yocan Favotank. Know what? It didn’t fit. The KBOX couldn’t even read it, registering no resistance on the OLED display.

General Comments

Seven Report received a number of general comments about the SUBOX Mini Starter Kit and Kangertech. Anekcen Cepreeb wanted to know when the full review would be up. I did respond, and hopefully by now you’ve been able to read or watch it. If you haven’t, you can find it here.

Trucking Vapes was among a few who wondered about how Kanger colored the Subtank Mini, “Great looking setup but interior paint is a total fail.” Kanger actually used a process called aqueous ceramic coating to color the tanks, so it’s not like they just slathered some pain on there. So far I haven’t had any problems with it, and I’ve been using it and cleaning the tanks pretty extensively. But I do appreciate the concern.

Hyjinx187 said, “I already own sever Kanger Subtanks and Eleafs, so it’s hard to justify the cost, but for someone who is moving into sub ohming for the first time, this seems like a no brainer!”

Sam Daering commented, “Great video, this new kit looks nice. I hope they come out with more colors for both the Mini and Nano sizes. I’d love to pick up a white Subtank Nano at some point.” Well Sam, Kanger just heard you. And as I mentioned in the review, they really seemed to listen to what vapers want when they did the design on the KBOX Mini.

Ishiyou noticed that too, “Good to see that Kanger takes public feedback and improves on what people dislike. I think they hit the nail on the head with this one.”

Want It, Getting It

The single biggest area of comments didn’t actually come in the form of questions, but from folks who fell in love with the SUBOX Mini and stated they either wanted one or had already ordered one.

SoberDave1971 said, “Eagerly awaiting your full review. This is my first foray into the vaping pre-order arena. I’m impressed with Kanger’s attention to vapers in the redesign of the Mini, so I’m hoping the shot was worth it.”

GEVape commented, “Can’t wait for my two sets to arrive, thanks for the look.”

Quick E-Cig Reviews said, “I want this. Nice video.”

AznGuy76 stated, “Might be my new on-the-go device, since Eleaf doesn’t want to get responisble with all the defective iStick 50 Watt mods.” Can’t comment on that AznGuy76. My iStick 50 Watt is still firing away flawlessly, but you can’t go wrong the SUBOX either.

Stormzuuu was torn, “This upsets me actually. I just bought a KBOX (original version) and Subtank, then I heard about the SUBOX and I now really want one, they look so awesome! Excited to see how it vapes, can’t wait to watch your full review.” You know what they say Stormzuuu, once you’ve bought something you ought to stop looking at newer versions.

Jengusbrule says, “Can’t wait to get this in the mail, it looks so sleek!”

Dennis Bullard chimed in, “I just ordered the black edition!”

Mystery Cookies said, “This might just be my next setup. This looks great and I am no longer satisfied with my egoT setup.”

And NHolloway2007 commented, “Today I learned I need this SUBOX. I was gonna get a Smoke xPro 50 and a Kanger Subtank with two batteries and a charger, but I think I’d rather have the SUBOX.”

Thanks to everyone who has read the articles and/or watched the videos on the SUBOX Mini Starter Kit. I’ve tried to respond to every comment personally, sorry if yours didn’t make it into this article. Keep commenting and I’ll keep answering.

And I don’t think this is the last you’ll hear from Seven Report on the SUBOX Mini. I’m planning on doing a head-to-head comparison of the KBOX Mini and the Eleaf iStick 50 Watt. So keep checking back for that in the next few days or so. Of course if you follow Seven Report on Twitter or Face Book you’ll find out about it that way.

And again, thanks to our friends at Kangertech for providing both the black and white editions of the SUBOX Mini Starter Kit for a Seven Report review. There are links at the bottom of this page to Kangertech where you can purchase the SUBOX Mini in white or black.

We are vaping enthusiasts, not experts, scientists or doctors. All content is the opinion of Seven Report. Our goal is to share our enjoyment of the vaping lifestyle and provide you with unbiased information.

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